This morning I did one of the most servile things I've ever done. A friend had left her daughter's homework in her country house over the weekend. Daughter needed it. Instead of all the productive activities I could be doing around here, like building my blog or the woodshed for my firewood, I drove over to her house and hunted everywhere for two pages of childish prose (all the while talking to ye olde secretary in the Manhattoes to get the coordinates). Then faxed it in. A friendly gesture, you say. Yes, but. I'm not going into it, but there's an economic framework to this story. Issues of employment.
The amazing wealth created for a small segment of American society over the last 20 years also generated a new servant class. My wife noticed it about 15 years ago when a friend started doing calligraphy for Martha Stewart. A lot of people who were overeducated and had artistic ambition fixed their sucking organs on to the new wealth, and began providing "essential" and often specialized services. Gardening, construction, faux-painting, giltwork, antique-picking, that kind of thing. I'd have to put my wife and myself in that class ourselves, though we're media workers. David Brooks wrote about these people in Bobos in Paradise. Bourgeois Bohemians. That's me. My wife and I have a good lifestyle and call ourselves independent and I get to work at novels, but as media workers we serve the rich both directly (our bosses) and by proxy (glossy magazine readers). When my friend James North says that investment banking geniuses "purchased a culture that exalted their so-called achievements," he is describing some portion of my journalistic labors.
We servants have had a fancy lifestyle, here in the exurbs, but we could never fully hide the character of our servitude, even from ourselves. I have a friend in a more servile status than I am who had to ferry his neighbor's wallet to him in the city, and turn on the heat in the guy's country house a couple hours ahead of his weekend arrival. Humiliating. We never stole good bottles of wine like those other greasy servants; we learned to scam them. I've also done some construction, and walked dogs.
Now that the financial superstructure on which we have depended is crashing down, I wonder what's going to happen. Certainly we're kissing a lot more ass, as James North reminded me last week, and as I demonstrated this morning. But I've also seen some resentment licking out, and some socialism.
Last week in the midst of the crash, two friends of mine who are contractors, one in stone-scaping, one in construction, independently drove their tasteful dark green pickups up my driveway to shoot the bull, and both expressed the same sentiment. My contractor friend said, "Hey let it all come down, it's a disgusting outrageous system." "But —-," says I, "you have a house on the market and two big jobs going, you're pouring over there right now." "Fuck it," he said. "I'm sick of the gigantic wealth transfer that's been going on for 20 years. Let everyone's mortgage fail. Hey, they're getting $600 a cord for firewood in the city, I can always cut wood."
My other friend, the landscape guy, said he was looking forward to a more egalitarian society, and didn't mind a big crash to get there. "Screw this bailout. Who's going to get that money? Hey at least we've learned some basic skills. I can grow a lot of my own food."
We're dependent and fearful. But we still have our pride. A little anyway. Just let me know if I can fetch your kid's homework.
vikubda shudras.
"Hey let it all come down, it's a disgusting outrageous system… I'm sick of the gigantic wealth transfer that's been going on for 20 years"
This reminded me of another venting from someone even more likely to have benefited from the recent rapacity. Hegemony Capital Management's Michael E. Lewitt (via James Wolcott):
'There is a point when free enterprise tips over into a degree of economic and social inequality that is politically unacceptable, and the United States has reached that point. HCM is well aware that its views on this topic genuinely anger many of its readers, but this is an issue that must be addressed as an essential component of any program that will return confidence to the financial system. Free market economic policies, in particular tax policies, have led to the creation of an American oligarchy whose wealth and power is excessive… Fairly taxing the upper 1/10 of 1 percent isn't going to plug the gaping U.S. budget deficit, but it will go a long way to returning a sense of fairness to a system that has lost its moral compass.'
It would have been good coming from Mike Whitney or Dean Baker, but it's wonderful from a member of the money magicians' club.
Wolcott's own take was amusing:
'Let's just cancel Christmas, and give each other hugs in lieu of presents. Because at the rate things are going we'll be bumming money off the Little Matchstick Girl.
Watching the stock market over the last few weeks has been like being at the mercy of a Godzilla-sized bulimic that can't be appeased.
Give us the Paulson bailout! Wall Street wails.
Here's your Paulson bailout, with all the fixings, and Wall Street promptly pukes up 700-so points.
Give us more liquidity!
The Fed opens the spigots and the Dow continues heaving.
Give us an emergency interest rate cut!
Here's your coordinated interest rate cut, the news of which Wall Street digests for about five minutes and then, another intestinal volley.
Some days the losses seem contained by midafternoon and there's the hope that today, perhaps, Wall Street will be able to hold down a meal, only to reach the final hour and blauuuugghhhhhhgggggggggrrrhhhhgggggggggggggrrrrgggglllllhhhh!!!!!!
Quite discouraging.
On a happier note, my financial guru, whose new office in a cardboard box above a subway grate looks quite cozy, if a little underfurnished, assures me that as things look now I should be able to retire at the age of 83, assuming I "hang on that long." A passing subway train sent up warm air from the tunnel, along with some loose gum wrappers, which I took as my cue to exit. The future may be falling about our ears, but I have to say the weather this week's been beautiful. Saw two black-throated blues in Riverside Park yesterday, going about their business without an investment care in the world.'
The Minnesota I grew up in (of the '70's and '80's) found the socioeconomic disparities in the East repellent.
Then, your model – with the help of a Fifth Column and much outside pressure from the GOP – infected us.
Now it all appears to be crashing down. I'm not sorry.
Hahaha.
Hey, Joe Schmoe American – you got sold a house and now you discover you pay too much, and that that mortgage with that adjustable thingamajig that nice man sold you with a rate that just wooooooouldn't go up just went up and up and up?
You get nothing!
Hey, bankers, businessmen, elites – you conned America, willfully bundled bad loans and even worse loans and investments into bull**** something or other, insured it at AIG, who are accomplices to this crime (they knew what they were insuring – bull**** – but they did it because hey!, free money for nothing!), then sold it to suckers, and then each bank sold it to other banks keeping the bull**** going until somebody called the bluff…
Why, elites, here is our money. Take some millions of our hard earned dollars.
No, no – you deserve MORE. Billions.
No! You deserve much MORE. Trillions.
I have never been disgusted more with my adopted country – well, perhaps the cynical use of 9/11 nationwide wave of patriotism to quickly con us into Iraq War 2 – war for profit, oil and AIPAC.
Perhaps then…
No.
This wealth transfer tops Iraq War 2.
"…he is describing some portion of my journalistic labors."
That is admirably honest, though the portion be small. I remember well the muckraking Prairie Spy who inspired me many years ago. A spirit that survives on this blog, in AmCon, elsewhere.
Happily, unlike today's City Pages — now a lifestyle rag shorn of the venerable A. Schmitz populism — your work hasn't succumbed to the urge to paint rococo frills for our masters!
"Hey at least we've learned some basic skills."
So american suckups can at least learn some useful fuckuplore.
"thingamajig." Never ever read that word before. No idea how to say it, but very interesting word. Thanks to AIG, the american idiomatic goy.
Phil, if you had the servant mentality, you'd sign up to get paid to write sadly-we-must-shoot-more-arabs type-before-we-give-them-a-generous-offer blog.
" "Fuck it," he said. "
Couldn't agree more…fuck 'em.
Although I lost a little money, I don't really care, let it all crash my family will still be o.k.. All good Southerners hold onto their ancestoral home and farm lands..mine happens to have some grape vineyards on it…so I need to brush up on wine making…wine hour instead of cocktail hour.
Would that the whole ponzi scheme does fall apart and sparks the revolution we so badly need.
See ya WS …….those starving hordes in the city are gonna be a bitch for all the CEOs huddling behind their flimsy gates..burn baby burn.
Lovers of capitalism–fear not!
What is happening is state capitalism…
NOT socialism. The wall street elite class,
aka: financial oligarchy, will retain control of the government and wealth distribution, until the masses understand only a profesional revolutionary party,with the goal of using the government to spread the wealth, not around,but to the working people, comes to power..
needless to say such an outcome will not be televised…
Sarkar says that history can be understood as the cyclical dominance of the different classes of society. His concept of class is however far different from previous, materialistic ideas of class. Sarkar defines class by mental characteristics rather than physical or materialistic concerns. He says that at the dawn of humanity the dominant mentality or class was that of the Shudras – people in whom matter is dominant over mind. These people were primarily concerned with the struggle to survive. Throughout history the toiling people concerned with physical survival belong to this class of Shudras or workers.
Sarkar notes that leadership of society then passed into the hands of people with another mentality. The class of Ksattriyas (warriors) developed the mentality that "with my physical force I will overcome the world (matter)". From the times of the Neolithic period and throughout the period known as "ancient history," this class ruled society. The chronicles of wars fought by the great civilizations of the Middle East are an example of this age of warriors.
With the further evolution of society another class rose to predominance. The Vipras or intellectuals had a different approach to the conquest of the world. They thought, "With my mental force I will overcome the world." Thus in the Middle Ages, ministers, advisors or priests (popes, Imams, etc.) held the real power of society even though warrior-kings were often the nominal rulers. This intellectual class brought about psychic and sometimes new spiritual ideas, but they also exploited society and are responsible for the religious wars of that time.
The cycle of society is always moving. The intellectuals ceded their authority to a class of Vaeshyas or capitalists who created the industrial and commercial revolutions that ushered in the modern age. The mentality of this class is to use mental strength to accumulate wealth. Just as the warrior age had a particular type of government, monarchy, and the intellectual age had its variation of monarchy which Sarkar calls Ministocracy, the age of capitalism saw the rise of democracy. Currently most countries of the world are in the capitalist era.
According to Sarkar this Vaeshyan era is near its end and it will finish with social revolution of economically, politically and psychologically oppressed masses. Following revolution, the age of warriors will come again.
I don't see any Shudras in our four branches of government, do you?
Of course we do have our very own Hessian Army.
When it comes time to storm the gaited villages of the privileged, there will be no National Guard to truck in–they'll all be overseas.
gated
Where did you find that Anon?
Are you a Proutist?
You must have done a great deal of research to find that from my two word phrase.
Maybe shudrups and viprups are vaeshnyshing? :)
"The Vipras or intellectuals had a different approach to the conquest of the world."
A. W. Crosby's The Measure of Reality might be an interesting read in that regard.
Do you know what the term "vikupda shudra" means?
Vikubda means disgruntled, and the phrase refers to a situation in which many brilliant and capable people are under-employed, and not comfortable about it. Those are the set of people that are capable of leadership of social movement.
It can take fascist form or really benevolent form, depending on the model of the leadership.
If the leadership appeals to the most humane sentiments, then a movement of the underemployed will be liberating. If the leadership appeals to a common enemy perspective, then it will likely dance from one scapegoat to another.
The key term in the Prout lingo is "sadvipra" which is a person of deep and reliable ethical practise, skilled in multiple tangible abilities, universally empathetic, attune with history. Intuitive, knowledgeable, competent.
I have not been involved with Prout in any regard for over a decade. I failed them and they failed me, simultaneiously.
Some of the most inspiring people that I've ever met were associated with the Prout movement, and the current leaders are individuals that I've known since the 70's.
Although the two prominent non-Indian leaders are both Jewish by birth, they have taken strong anti-Zionist positions. We differ and have for thirty years.
I personally consider Israel to be a lapsed example of a successful samaj movement (able to be reformed). Others consider Israel to be an inevitable racist contrast to universalism, and antithetical to reverence for traditional bio-regional cultures. (They appeal to rebellious sentiments in young people, distinguishing between spirituality and religion, but failing to acknowledge the spirituality in religions, and also failing to acknowledge the dogmas in their own approaches.)
Pres. Obama attacked critics of his $3.6 trillion budget proposal, casting himself as a populist crusader whose "sweeping change" has angered Washington's entrenched special interests, and he vowed that he is ready for a fight. Republicans really don’t like a lot of Obama’s ideas about the budget, and what he wants to spend money on. The ubiquitous football of the Republican Party that has already been thrown is that it's socialism. It’s hard to understand how they get socialism (if they’ve never actually studied Marx) but it still gets dragged out. By spending on things like infrastructure, education, and fostering new industry which will be carried out by independent contractors, a lot of people will get good jobs, and more people will carry degrees. They might even achieve a degree of greater freedom with the provisions in the budget – isn’t that what Republicans want?